'Cricket relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be reconsidered if Bangladesh decides not to tour Pakistan.' PHOTO: EXPRESS/ FILE

LAHORE: Cricket relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be reconsidered if the latter decides not to tour Pakistan for an upcoming series, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf on Tuesday.

Talking to the media in Lahore, Ashraf said that it will be decided before the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) meeting whether Bangladesh will be touring Pakistan or not.

Ashraf refused to name other nations that Pakistan has invited to tour the country, saying that there were those who did not want to see international cricket in the country and were trying to stop others as well.

Commenting on India touring Pakistan, the chairman said that the tour is still pending and if India wants Pakistan to tour their country first then they should announce a plan for it.

@Bangladeshi: I agree. You should be more worried about your team’s abysmal cricket performances, and their reputation having dropped from “Bengal Tigers” to “Bengal Cry-Babies” after the Asia Cup final :)

lol @ Pakistanis making fun of Bangladeshis. PCB will be all alone once BCB ignores them. Pakistan needs Bangladesh, not the other way around. Better go and play a series in Bangladesh and smooth things over rather than always begging a series with India.

Apart from this I am sorry, Ireland plays much better cricket than you they are much professional than you and If they get Test status now the will progress much better than Bangladesh (A side who wins matches once in decade)

And do tell us how Pakistan needs Bangladesh? Do you guys play competitive cricket? I think not our record against you states something else! 23 straight wins in ODIs and still counting!

And please this recent performance of yours is just a flash in pan. Recommend

@Senman:
which planet are you living on? the rest of us are still surprised that Bangladesh is even a non-minnows team. With a win/loss ratio of 0.04(!), they have a long way to go. As such, Bangladesh will (would) have lost the series in Pakistan in any case. Additionally, the point that Mr Ashraf was trying to make is that after nominating Mustafa Kamal for the ICC slot, the PCB had an understanding that the BCB would send the cricket team for a tournament. Now that the BCB is backing out of the agreement, indicating how untrustworthy they are, the PCB is quite likely to impose sanctions on the BCB.Recommend

Why doesn’t Pakistan just continue playing in UAE? Is it really that hard to see why countries wouldn’t come to play in Pakistan? The security situation is terrible. Whats the benefit of having BD come to Pakistan? Does Pakistan really think this will open the gates for others. If BD does come, no one else will tour here anyway. If they don’t come, still no other country will tour. I can’t think of one positive from this tour but I can think of many negatives. If God forbid, something does happen, it will be the end of international cricket in Pakistan forever. Why can’t we just accept that the security situation in Pakistan is the worst right now in the cricketing world. It is outside of the PCB’s control and they should just keep arranging home series in UAE until the situation gets better. Players who are making a million dollars a year are not going to risk their lives to play a match in Pakistan no matter how much we think it has relatively gotten better. I really think this is a waste of time and money right now. You have to look at it from international players’ perspective, why would they risk their safety to come here. How can PCB guarantee anyone’s safety? There are attacks everyday in Pakistan and the police and army can’t stop them, what can the PCB do?

Pakistan needs Bangladesh. Bangladesh does not need Pakistan.
Bangladesh is an independent and prosperous nation. Pakistan is on a track towards talibanization. Just look at Deen Sheikh’s comment. FYI: there is no pro-bcci lobby!
-Proud Bangladeshi

pakistan needs bangladesh??? ohhhh right. a test country for 50 years plus and counting needs another country who only qualified for test status thanks to charity by pakistan, and which has done NOTHING to justify that test status ever since? pakistan needs that country?? the record for consecutive wins against an opposition is against bangladesh, by pakistan, and pakistan cricket needs you?? bangladesh plays competitive cricket?? only one victory against pakistan so far and you try to win the asia cup final by sneaky tactics. and we need you?? WOW. thats some arrogance from someone whose team is lucky to be even considered a cricketing nation, much less a test cricket playing nation.

Don’t worry Bangladesh … Without us, prove your BPL 2nd edition Successful … U gonna cry over this decision.. Don’t forget Pakistan deliberately lose the match in worldcup 1999 so that your country earn ODI status and that’s what you came up with.. Attitude… U gonna regret it , and regret it soon… And even BCCI couldn’t do anything about it.. they will left you to suffer…

@Rehman:
Cricket is a sport only 5 nations in the entire world play. That is no way to measure success. In fact, you mentioning it makes me laugh.
I’ve already mentioned that Bangladesh is a prosperous, liberal and tolerant nation. Recommend

Honestly speaking, Pakistan playing Bangladesh is more like extensive practice for Pak than a competitive tournament. I for one have no regrets if Bangladesh doesn’t bother touring, they can always go you-know-where!

After the departure of Butt, there were high expectations from the new PCB official. Mr. Zaka Ashraf has deeply disappointed so far. He earlier claimed that Indians were afraid of playing Pakistanis. And now his loose cannon is aimed at Bangladesh in what appears to be a futile attempt of blackmailing them into visiting Pakistan. Mr. Zaka’s brazen statements lack even a pinch of diplomacy and yet he finds local support, evident from some of the comments above.

While I understand that Pakistani fans would love to watch their heroes in action at home, harboring any realistic hopes of others visiting them might be a bit premature, I am afraid. Mr. Zaka needs to understand that he is no position to force anyone to play in Pakistan.

On a different note, I am a big fan of Bangladesh’s attitude and passion towards the sport. They might not have achieved what other Cricket playing nations have but that’s due to their late entry in the game. We should all appreciate the commitment and the talent that Bangladesh team brings on the field, rather than hurl lame attempted ridicules in their direction.

We had never expected to lose to Sri Lanka. Anyways, it was the genesis of Sri Lanka as a cricketing nation and within 10 years or so they had won the world cup.

I now have a similar respect for the Bangladesh team. They are minnows today, but I think their domestic league will create better and better players. The inclusion of Bangladeshi players in IPL will also improve standards due to enhanced exposure and I am confident that the team will improve. Pakistanis should be careful about beating up on Bangladesh – in our lifetimes we have seen the decline of the West Indies and the rise of Sri Lanka.

With regard to touring, the attack on the Sri Lankan team after they had been promised world class security was a game changer. Pakistan should cultivate UAE asit’s home base and not make an ego issue out of something that has happened due to circumstance.

Agreed but that can happen with domestic leagues as well. I agree with FK that UAE should become the home base for PCB for international matches, and a domestic league polishes the local talent.

BTW, as someone who visited Pakistan and had a great time there, I can see how hurtful it is for you guys. I think Pakistan is an extremely hospitable country, and the one country where you get treated really well when you say you are Indian. This is not a judgement on the Pakistani people at all.

But consider that visiting as a private citizen versus a publicized cricket tour are different situations. and the Sri Lanka team attack was a game changer.

I like the answers of the bangladeshi commentators, it really shows their pride in their nation. This PCB chairman thinks he is the president of the country that he will decide about the future relations with bangladesh in reaction to this stupid game of cricket.

Those people posting without using their real names are insecure and deceptive. What is this deal with Bangladeshi forgetting their own names? It is my advice to all that we ignore those who don’t use their own names.

Bangladeshis have already been awarded the Indian tour from their BCCi Masters (for snubbing PCB), So, it’s time to move on. The Bangladeshi tour will not open the doors for the top tier teams to visit Pakistan. PCB need to look at this realisticly and take viable steps. Bangladeshi tour will be a pure waste of time and money.

Opinionated trolls have to include india in all discussions. Unbelievable! Now back to the point. After showing themselves to be cry babies after the Asia Cup final, it’s no surprise that bengalis don’t want to tour Pakistan. Don’t worry benglais, we understand your reluctance. Peace!

@Another Bangladeshi:
Brother – u don’t represent the bengalis. Here in Dhaka, people love Pakistani players. I think we should visit Pakistan. I was in the stadium during the BPL match when afridi came. It was awesome. Indians you stay out of this please. This is nothing to do with you.

@blithe:
Pakistan said if Bangladesh tours Pakistan then we will consider the Kamal guy as candidate for vice president of ICC in which we have to nominate a candidate together but if we don’t agree the Kamal guy will not get the job. its simple we not forcing Bangladesh to tour, they can tour if they want the Kamal guy to be the vice president of ICC and if they don’t then PCB will launch the Pakistan Premier League which will mean that the stars (Pakistani Players) of BPL will not be going to Bangladesh so the 2nd season of BPL will not even get recognised because the tournaments will be so crap without the stars. Lol win win situation for us.

Mr.Ashraf, clean your house before threatening others, can you insure their safety 100% in Pakistan, do you remember what happened in Lahore few years ago to another cricket team.If that team by any chance refuse to come to Pakistan , then would you threaten them too.Lay off this stupid threats, it is demeaning to our country Pakistan. You invite them and if they see it fit and feel safe, they might come otherwise let it go.I am sure when things settle down in Pakistan, most of the cricket teams will visit Pakistan.Even I am apprehensive to visit my birth place Mardan from here in Kansas.

Bangladesh prosperous! you must be lost Bangladesh’s more worse than Pakistan in terms of Being prosperous. We have a government Thats corrupt and when they are gone and the nationalist will come into power then Pakistan will be a truly great nation. You have children under 12 working Nike in shoe factories across your country in poor conditions where they are treated like slaves and I am not saying that we don’t have that problem but not as much as you do. Officially in Financial terms our Economy is 2 times bigger than yours. GDP (PPP) of Pakistan is 482 billion Us dollars where as Yours only 258 Us billion dollars and also the GDP (Nominal) of Pakistan is 202 billion dollars where as yours is only 104 billion dollars. Bangladesh is not Prosperous my figures prove it, come on Bangladesh accept it your country is same as Pakistan. Recommend

Maybe Bangladesh will reconsider if Pakistan apologizes for the genocide of the bengali people in 1971. So Pakistan, as a member of the ummah, should apologize to Bangladesh, another member of the ummah. since according to afridi, Pakistanis have a big heart, apologizing won’t be a problem or will it?

The number of likes for Bangladeshi’s comments shows the number of trolls (Indian and otherwise) who visit ET. They are greater in number to the actual people for whom this newspaper is meant(Pakistanis). Dumb trolls have nothing better to do than to go to another country’s news site and post comments.

Well, Abbas, Bangladesh is better than Pakistan on any given day. They have huge problems, but Pakistan’s problems are gargantuan.

No one in their right mind will tour Pakistan. There’s no law and order in the country. Anybody can get killed, kidnapped, injured. And this Mr. Ashraf is threatening Bangladesh. Funny, a failed country threatening a country which is better off.

PakMan Awais writes “Bangladesh prosperous! you must be lost Bangladesh’s more worse than Pakistan in terms of Being prosperous. We have a government Thats corrupt and when they are gone and the nationalist will come into power then Pakistan will be a truly great nation.”

Hahaha! Funny.

Pakistan a true great nation?!!! Is it just like how Zaid Hamid sent a Pakistani to moon? In your dreams?!!

@PakMan Awais writes “if they don’t then PCB will launch the Pakistan Premier League which will mean that the stars (Pakistani Players) of BPL will not be going to Bangladesh so the 2nd season of BPL will not even get recognised because the tournaments will be so crap without the stars.”

Yeah? How are you going to finance this league? Selling poppy from Afghanistan?

I’m surprised that such comments do not draw criticism from fellow Pakistanis. They encourage such delusional propagandists!!!

Honestly speaking its absolutely correct of all sides not to tour Pakistan. This should give us the impetus to try to fix things , rather than put a blanket over everything happening and force teams to tour here, trying to pretend that all is well.
Teams should come when EVERYONE in pakistan is safe.

First of all i have great respect for the Bangladeshis. As brother this is their choice to come or not. We shouldn’t force them into some decision. The decision should be based on mutal respect and honor. Best wishes for future Bangladeshis crick team

@Syed:
Not only the thousands of non-Bengalis but also the brutal killing of thousands of pro-Pakistan
Bengalis at the hands of Mukti Bhani. I say let bygones be bygones and let us be brothers-in-faith.

@mr. righty rightist…of course the match in 1999 was thrown by pakistan to help bangladesh, if you remember wasim akrams statement afterwards thats what he said. if bangladesh were capable of beating pakistan the right way, you would have defeated us after that. you have beaten india, sri lanka and even england, but you lost to pakistan…by a measly two runs, but you still lost. if you could beat pakistan 1. your board wouldnt feel the need to resort to sneaky tactics to get the result of the asia cup final reversed and 2. the record for consecutive wins against an opposition wouldnt belong to pakistan vs bangladesh. have you beat us in any test or T20?

@sick of this nonsense & jan: Don’t belittle the trolls’ efforts, as these indians are hard working and faithfully stick to their job descriptions. Have a heart, and just think, how happy can these trolls be having to post such senseless comments constantly? Don’t get mad at them. Just pity the fools, as Mr. T used to say :)

@Tariq:
Yar. The Indian trolls have just one agenda. Just criticize anything to do with Pakistan. One should have a meaningful constructive discussion. They should really go to Hindustan times where they use foul language. Spreading poison is all they want.Recommend

@done:
impose sanctions…are you a buffoon or what?? frequent terror attacks happen everyday in pak.. despite being banned by the UN and put on a high threat list, hafeez syed is allowed to roam freely screaming death to ind, death to usa, death to the west !! tell me which country will not be scared to send their team to pak..forgot the osama raid episode..where the whole world came to know about pakistans true colors !!! we will never tour pak..tell me wht pcb can do ??lol impose sanctions on aus, ind, eng , nz etc…so be it still yr country be will not anyting ! hahahha !